GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister and president of Badminton Association of India (BAI), Himanta Biswa Sarma, chaired the executive and annual general meeting of the governing body of the sport in the country, addressing various issues related to the promotion of the sport.
During the meeting, it was revealed that in the last international season, India won 233 medals across senior and junior categories. One of these big achievements included India’s historic bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship in Dubai.
Taking to X, the official handle of Assam CMO wrote, “Today, HCM Dr. @himantabiswa chaired the Executive Meeting and Annual General Meeting of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) for 2024. HCM discussed various issues concerning the promotion of badminton nationwide, including infrastructure development and coaching provisions to support emerging talents. He appreciated the BAI members’ suggestions for fostering a more robust badminton environment and commended BAI’s efforts in maintaining high-quality training at academies with international coaches, physiotherapists, and strength and conditioning experts. HCM further noted that Indian players secured 233 medals in senior and junior categories last international season, significantly enhancing the sport’s global credibility. Noteworthy achievements include India’s historic first bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship in Dubai. @BAI_Media.”
https://x.com/CMOfficeAssam/status/1815012586309493058?t=1Jyj7Azz7d7NPt8hiD6j6Q&s=19
The Indian badminton players, including PV Sindhu, have secured five quotas for the Paris 2024 Olympics as per a ‘Race to Paris’ Ranking List’ published by the sport’s governing body, the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Former world champion PV Sindhu, a silver medalist from the 2016 Olympics and a bronze medalist from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, got her quota as she finished in the 12th spot in the list at the time of publication of the list.
In the men’s singles competition, HS Prannoy, ranked ninth, and Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen, ranked 13th, got their quotas for India in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The other two quotas for India came in doubles competition, with Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy securing the third spot in the men’s doubles list and Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto finishing 13th in the women’s doubles.
Last year, Chirag-Satwik became the first-ever Indian doubles pair to become the world number one following their gold medal win in the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year. Ashwini and Crasto, secured the Abu Dhabi Masters and Guwahati Masters, two Super 100 championship titles and finished as runners-up in the Syed Modi International BWF Super 300 tournament.
Players in the top 16 (up to two per country) of the men’s and women’s ‘Race to Paris’ Rankings, secured a spot for their national sides in the Olympics. The qualifying period for the marquee multi-sport event started on May 1 last year and ended on April 28.
A total of 35 shuttlers secured quotas through this list, which included quota places for continental representation.
With a total of seven badminton quotas in total, India could field their joint-biggest badminton contingent in the Olympics, having played with seven shuttlers back in 2016 at the Rio Olympics. (ANI)